A Lovely Day, A Loss and #712

I made it out to the game this afternoon to watch the Padres beat up on our “ace” Matt Morris. He looked like he was headed for a Bullinger, down 4 nothing with 2 down and two on in the second, but Morris was able to fake his way through some more innings with minimal damage to just end up with a big L and a crummy outing.

It’s amazing the way the Padre bats seem to wake up when they come to Telephone Park. To them, this is a hitter’s park, and they can’t wait to hack. When they head to a real hitter’s park like Colorado and Cincinnati, they must feel like they’re in heaven.

Barry hit #712 today, a towering shot to dead centerfield that bounced on the shed about 30 feet past the 399 sign. He also hit two lazy fly balls to left field. He can’t pull the ball anymore for power. He’s just so strong that he can power the occasional pitch out of the park to dead center and to left center, which is even further than dead center. So here is the question of the day: Will Barry ever again hit a splash homer?

Pedro Feliz hit the ball well today, including a shot off the left field foul pole. He finally has gotten his shot, and he’s been failing miserably. Does anyone long for the good old days of Alfonso?

Cincinnati swept the Cardinals today, and now holds the best record in the National League. You’ve got to figure that’s temporary, but they have been getting pretty good pitching, today from Sir Sidney, with the win to Coffey. Meanwhile LaRussa had the gall to play some kid from Stanford named John Gall, benching the always hot JRod. Rodriguez did come in late in the game and got a single in his only at bat to raise his average to .438. He’s now 14 for 32 with 3 doubles and a triple. What the heck is LaRussa waiting for?

Zack Duke showed the stuff that made him highly hyped at the auction with a 5 hit complete game shutout over the Cubs. The Cubs are just flailing without Lee and Wood and Prior. It’s hard to imagine Dusty in Chicago next season.

I saw on the scoreboard that El Duque was third in the NL in strikeouts coming into his start today. He threw a near Bullinger: 3.2 IP, 9 Hits, 6 ER’s, 2 Walks. I wanted nothing to do with him, but Lou was ecstatic about getting the Hernandez boys. Kind of like what I was hoping for when I aimed at getting both Luis Gonzalez’s. In that game, Kenny Lofton got steal #6. He’s still got wheels. I see the Dodgers moved him into the leadoff spot and dropped the slumping Raffy Furcal down to 2nd in the order. It seems to have helped, and Furcal just hit an RBI double.